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Frequently Asked Financial Aid Questions:

To drop all of your classes this term, go to loa.usu.edu and apply for a leave of absence or complete withdrawal. Our office will then determine how much financial aid you need to return and notify you by mail. For Federal Pell grants, you will need to document that you participated academically in your classes. This may reduce how much money has to be returned. Please note that withdrawing from classes will affect your satisfactory academic progress towards graduation and may create a financial burden. However, dropping courses may be in your overall best interests. We recommend consulting with your financial aid counselor about your options.

Federal regulations allow students to receive aid for only one repeat of a previously passed class. When you register, Banner will disregard any such repeated classes when disbursing aid. However, this does not prevent you from enrolling in a class as many times as you need. More information on repeated courses.

Dropping or withdrawing from classes will affect your academic progress, and you will receive either a W "grade" on your transcript. Getting too many W on your transcript could result in financial aid warning.

If you drop or fail all of your classes this semester, you may be required to repay some of your financial aid. More information here.

When you register, financial aid will show up on your account. Scholarships should show as paid; grants and loans should show as "memo's". Even though your aid is not available in cash, it is counted as payment for your classes. As long as the aid is sufficient, you will not lose your classes on the purge date. Checks for remaining funds after all your charges are paid will be mailed to the mailing address you have on MyUSU (or deposited in your bank account if you have signed up for direct deposit) to arrive the first day of spring semester. After you register, you can look at your charges and check to be sure all your aid has been applied by logging into MyUSU. More information on how financial aid pays for classes.
Warning: Year-long independent study classes do not qualify for financial aid.

During the semester, any leftover money is generally sent to you 3-5 business days after you accept your aid and complete any additional steps such as loan counseling, signing the MPN, etc. If you accepted your aid a few weeks before the beginning of the term and completed any additional steps, remaining funds are sent around the first day of the semester.

Financial Aid funds are first applied to your USU charges as long as you are otherwise eligible and have completed all additional steps such as loan counseling, signing the MPN, etc. Any leftover funds are mailed to the mailing address you have on MyUSU. Or you can update your MyUSU account (in the financial aid section) to have the funds deposited directly into your checking account.

Grants pay according to your enrollment status. For example, a full-time student generally receives twice as much as a half-time student. Your grant is now based on the credits that will appear on your transcript, which are the classes you are enrolled in on the last day to add. More on adjustable grants.

You can still have your financial aid this term if you receive a warning notice. However next semester's financial aid is on hold until you verify your grades with our office. If you receive a suspension notice, then you are not eligible for financial aid including loans for this and subsequent semesters. If you have extenuating circumstances that resulted in your financial aid suspension, you may submit a financial aid appeal.

If you apply before you marry, you may be able change your status during the school year. In most cases, married students are eligible for more aid than dependent students because they earn less than their parents. However, your eligibility for aid is still based on your and your spouse's income. Please note, if you are changing your name, you must also change your name with the Social Security Administration. Contact our office about the possibility of updating your marital status on FAFSA.

Students can sometimes receive additional or remaining grant and loan eligibility in summer. You can fill out a summer aid application starting the first week of March that and we will notify you of your eligibility. More Information about summer aid.

As of fall 2012 semester, federal regulations no longer allow students to provide a copy of their IRS 1040 forms if they are selected for verification. However, students have several options for getting their tax information to USU for FAFSA verification.

Your financial aid counselor is responsible for every aspect of your aid, from application to verification to disbursement to your account. However, most students are awarded by the system without intervention from a staff member. But, if your situation is unusual, you should contact your counselor who can advise you about any options you may have.

To protect your right to privacy, we use your SecurityPhrase to verify your identity when you call us. Please take a moment to create your SecurityPhrase. Because email isn't secure, we can only answer general questions by email. Do not include your SecurityPhrase in your email message.

In general, you must report any scholarships and grants that exceeded tuition and fees required to enroll at or attend an educational institution, and course-related expenses, such as fees, books, supplies, and equipment that are required of all students for the courses at the educational institution. Please review IRS Publication 970 - Tax Benefits for Education for more information about your situation.

Financial aid cannot be directly transferred from one university to another. If you are transferring to another university during an award year you need to add the other school on your FAFSA. Go to fafsa.gov to add USU to your application (USU’s school code is 003677.) You do not need to delete the code for the school you are currently attending. After submitting your FAFSA application, the financial aid office at the school you are transferring to will receive your application and begin processing. You may need to submit additional information at your new school.

Student ID cards only work if your balance at USU is paid in full. You may still owe tuition, fees, or have been assessed a late fee. Please check your account on MyUSU to see if you owe anything for this or previous semesters. You will need to pay the balance as soon as possible in order to access services at USU.

Go to studentloans.gov
Click on the "SIGN IN" button
Login with your SSN, FAFSA PIN etc and submit
Click on “Complete Master Promissory Note”
Click on “Subsidized/Unsubsidized”
The site will walk you through the rest of the steps.